Trades academies are accusing some school principals of patch protection over the number of students they'll approve to attend vocational training. A funding anomaly has meant that trades students have been funded as if they were at school full-time, and the Education Ministry is adjusting that. This will mean that schools receive less for those students, and Linda Fox from the PPTA Principals' Council has warned members that up to 60 teaching positions could go if too many students are placed in trades academies. Stuart Middleton from Tertiary High School at Manukau Institute of Technology responds.